2013 Enterprise 50 Awards: Creating value to stay ahead

2013 Enterprise 50 Awards: Creating value to stay ahead

Nominations are now open for the 2013 Enterprise 50 (E50) Awards. The E50 Awards is jointly organised by KPMG in Singapore and The Business Times, the financial daily of the Singapore Press Holdings.

The theme of this year's award is 'Creating value to stay ahead'. It emphasises the need for companies to reshape their business models and focus on value creation as a competitive advantage to stay ahead.

The E50 Awards is the authoritative list of the 50 most enterprising, privately held local companies in Singapore across all industry sectors. Enterprises in past E50 lists serve to encourage other companies to come forward and benchmark themselves with these top-performing local enterprises.

Mr Owi Kek Hean, Deputy Managing Partner and Head of Enterprise Services, KPMG in Singapore said: "The competitive and uncertain global market will increase the pressure on enterprises to step up their productivity improvement efforts and restructure their businesses. The key theme of this year's awards therefore centres on creating value through innovation to stay ahead of the competition."

He added: "The measure of competitiveness among enterprises will increasingly be driven by an enterprise's ability to innovate and differentiate itself in the pursuit of new businesses. The E50 awards recognise their efforts in overcoming challenges of delivering sustainable growth through economic ups and downs."

Mr Alvin Tay, Editor of The Business Times, said: "The contribution of these leading local enterprises is key to driving Singapore's economic growth and development. This year's E50 Awards aim to identify and recognise companies that have shown an exemplary track record in value creation and future-proofing their businesses through acumen, innovation and leadership. These are some of the attributes that we hope to look out for in this year's E50 award winners."

A key highlight of this year's launch event was the panel discussion titled "Creating value to stay ahead". The panellists shared insights on how enterprises can focus on innovation in their business models to create more value in order to gain competitive advantage within their business environments.

Some benefits of being on the E50 list cited by past winners include enhancements in their business image, greater recognition by suppliers and customers and a boost in staff morale. Since the inception of the awards 19 years ago, some 450 companies have been recognised for their excellence and enterprising spirit, and they have gone out to carve successful growth paths.

Quotes from selected past award winners are included in the annex.

Heightened focus on innovation

Participants are evaluated against a rigorous set of quantitative and qualitative criteria. Quantitative factors include financial performance indicators such as operating profit before tax, turnover and profit growth.

The qualitative criteria include management and marketing strategies such as the applicants' business model and their innovations, management ideals and governance, market branding and overall potential.

This year, a company's efforts to improve productivity and the ability to identify opportunities for innovation in today's business environment have been given a greater focus.

This means that promising companies having innovative business models to boost productivity are better positioned to make it to the E50 list. This supports the Government's efforts to enhance support for SMEs in the areas of productivity, innovation and capability upgrading.

The judging panel will comprise senior management representatives from KPMG in Singapore, The Business Times, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), SPRING Singapore and OCBC bank, who returns as the sponsor of the E50 Awards for the eighth year.

Mr Linus Goh, Head of Global Commercial Banking, OCBC Bank, said: "Past E50 winners have proven their mettle by steering their companies to greater heights amidst economic uncertainties and challenges. Their decisiveness in venturing into unchartered territories and embracing change through innovation clearly sets them apart from the competition. We expect this year's winners to exhibit the same can-do spirit, no less. We certainly look forward to welcoming more deserving companies to the ranks of the E50 Award winners."

Enterprises requiring assistance with the submission can approach the E50 secretariat

Feedback from past applicants reveal that some enterprises may benefit from assistance in preparing their business case and presentation.

For the first time, the E50 awards organisers are collaborating with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School to make a limited number of business undergraduates available to assist them.

Students also benefit from applying their knowledge and skills to real-life opportunities and access to the local business community.

Nominations close on 1st July 2013. The 2013 Enterprise 50 list will be published in the fourth quarter of 2013 in conjunction with an awards gala dinner.